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Published at ENEMEEZ
Bowel Program for Quadriplegic Lower motor neuron (“LMN”) results from a spinal cord injury below T-12, thus damaging the defecation reflex and relaxing the anal sphincter muscle. If the injury is located at T12 or higher the ability to feel when the rectum is full may be lost.
The bowel empties by reflex and is called reflex bowel. With this type of injury, when the rectum is full, defecation will occur on a reflex basis. These cases can be managed by causing the bowel movement to occur at socially appropriate times and places.
For L1 injuries or lower, or for high cervical cord injury, when the bowel fills with stool it sends a signal to the sacral nerves where it then tries to send this signal along the spinal cord. The signal to evacuate doesn’t reach the spinal cord because the nerves are disrupted due to the injury. Because the signal to evacuate is not able to travel along the spinal cord, the reflex to evacuate doesn’t happen, however, the sphincter muscle remains loose. If too much stool collects in the bowel, it will evacuate on its own. This is called a flaccid bowel and increases the risk of constipation and incontinence.
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